Van closed her eyes and breathed in the unique woody fragrance of pine mixed with fresh mountain air. Her ears caught the familiar sound of a nearby crashing waterfall. In the distance, she heard Pernilla say, “Oh my gosh.”
Van opened her eyes and walked around the TAV to the other side of elevation. She stood on the solid edge next to Pernilla and also gazed across the open area.
“It’s amazing,” Pernilla said.
A grand waterfall, edged on both sides by lush, green vegetation, crashed off the jutting rocks in a steady flow.
From where Van stood, she looked down to see the waterfall’s wide stream plummet into the base pond. She lifted her eyes to the top of the white-watered falls, and on the side, she recognized the enormous oak tree. The tree’s massive, gnarled roots reached in and out of the earth, twisting down all the way to the pond below.
“We’re supposed to be here,” Van said absorbing the natural beauty of her surroundings. “We stopped at the same place last year.”
Wiglaf merrily chirruped by her feet.
Pernilla responded by turning toward Van and pulling out a dagger, ready to fight. “Van,” she said in a severe tone.
Confused, Van took a step back. She glanced at Brux and Paley who stood next to the TAV, about thirty feet away, hoping to get answers.
Paley’s eyes grew wide.
Wiglaf let out several high-pitched chirrups.
A worried look clouded Brux’s face. He stepped forward, his mouth open as if about to say something.
Strong hands roughly grasped Van and pulled her close. Her back pressed against a warm, solid body. Sharp metal dug into her throat—a dagger.
“Who are you?” A deep male voice growled in her ear.
Chapter 15
Van’s neck twinged as the stranger pushed the dagger deeper, pricking her skin.
“What’re you doing here?” the stranger said to all of them.
A soft female voice rang like the chimes of an angel. “Kopius put the knife down.”
His grip lessened, and Van took a much-needed breath.
He reluctantly lowered his dagger and released her.
Van stumbled away, clutching her throat.
Brux’s expression changed. His eyes grew wider, his jaw slackened. Van thought he was relieved for her safety until he muttered, “D-daisy?”
“Hello, brother.”
Van twisted to look behind Kopius, and her jaw also dropped.
Daisy emanated a soft, feminine presence. Though a mere wisp of a girl, she seemed to awaken the hearts of all those around her.
Brux rushed to his sister. They wrapped their arms around each other.
Van waited until they were done and then she gave Daisy a hug too, careful not to squeeze too hard. Brux’s sister always had the pallor of someone who could use a good meal, and today was no different. In Van’s arms, she seemed delicate as a flower petal and felt frail and bony. “Uxa told us you were dead.”
“Nope,” she said. “I guess not.”
Daisy’s wide, pale-blue eyes drew onlookers into her pure, simple beauty. Yet, even as Daisy grinned, she still managed to seem sad.
Seeing Brux’s sister standing before her alive and well, caused Van’s mind to spin a web of suspicion that, at the worst, Uxa could be the spy in Lodestar or, at the least, manipulative. Uxa might have told Van and the team about Daisy’s death hoping they wouldn’t go searching for her. But Van could not shake the feeling of Uxa being the spy.
Paley and Daisy hugged.
“Good to see you,” Paley said.
“Same.”
Pernilla hadn’t yet met Daisy. While introductions were made, Brux looked bothered, as if struggling against wrapping a protective arm around his sister for support, worried that speaking might deplete her fragile energy.
Wiglaf had fallen in love with Daisy. He rubbed his face all over her ankles and purred. Daisy, also enamored with the critter, bent down and scratched him behind the ears. “Since my torture—”
Brux winced.
“—I’ve formed a bond with animals and nature,” Daisy said. “I feel…” She took a deep breath. “Connected.” She shook her head. “I don’t know if that makes sense. But I feel like I’m one with mother earth, her creatures, and her bounty.”
“Bounty means plants,” Kopius said.
The team turned their attention to him, who, until this point, stood silently to the side observing the newcomers while keeping a tight grip on his dagger.
“She developed an intuitive skill for using plants to make medicines,” he continued. “Fascinating.”
Daisy beamed at him.
“Kopius, right?” Paley batted her eyelashes at the blue-eyed Adonis.
To Van, he seemed older than them. But, she knew he would have to be under eighteen, or he wouldn’t be allowed outside the boundaries of Salus Valde. And, by his coloring, he definitely looked Lodian.
“Kopius DeTata,” Daisy said in her airy voice as she made the introductions.
When Brux and Kopius shook hands, it seemed as if thunder would rumble and lightning would crackle from the sky as each assessed the worthiness of the other.
Paley flipped her hair over her shoulder in a flirty manner, to such an extent that Van thought it a great feat that she managed to stop for a moment and shake Kopius’s hand.
Daisy turned to Brux. “Father hired him to find me.”
“Find her, I did,” Kopius said, his eyes continuously scanned their surroundings, as if on alert for trouble. “Of course, there was never any doubt that I wouldn’t. I can do anything when put to task.”
“Anything?” Brux asked, looking skeptical.
“His special skill is making use of objects on hand to create something needed, to solve problems,” Daisy said. “Come. I’ll show you.” She gestured across the open area, toward the gigantic tree at the top of the waterfall.
The team followed Daisy and Kopius onto a path in the woods. They descended downward until the trees ended and they entered the clearing by the base pond. Then they headed upward, climbing the terraced rocks of the waterfall that were intermingled with the tree’s immense roots.
Wiglaf hop-scurried along with them.
During the climb, Kopius warily glanced at the bunfy. “What is that thing?”
“Swfft ergert!” Wiglaf said, sounding offended.
“Bunfys are magical creatures native to Altithronia.” Daisy smiled at the bunfy.
“But they can’t perform magic,” Paley said, using her response as an excuse to move closer to Kopius. “Like, he can’t turn you into a carrot.” She threw him a big smile.
Kopius didn’t return the gesture.
“A bunfy’s magic allows them to change their vibrational frequency and travel to different realms,” Van said.
“Oh, right,” Kopius said, seemingly more appreciative of the bunfy. “I’ve heard of them, but they’re rare.”
“Yes, and they attach to one person and watch over them for a lifetime,” Daisy said. “This one seems to have chosen you, Van. They bring good luck, and their purrs heal the soul.”
Kopius seemed to store the information for future use in his mind-bank of data.
They reached the top of the waterfall. Kopius slipped inside a cave-like opening in the roots, which were about three times wider than him and twice his height. Daisy followed, then Brux and the others, including Wiglaf.
Van entered next, surprised to see a cozy nook, its walls made naturally by the tree roots.
Light filtered in through the entryway casting a triangular highlight on Kopius as he knelt by the unlit fire pit in the center of the dwelling. He smashed two stones together until he got a spark and lit the fire.
They all sat on logs, except Brux who sat on the ground since there weren’t enough seats.
“Pull up a rock,” Paley suggested to Brux, then giggled.
Van noticed seashells, stones, and twig figures that looked like hand-crafted dolls carefully placed in
the natural bumps and knots of the root-walls, like little shelves around the nook. Van could tell these were thoughtful gifts Daisy and Kopius had given to each other and used to decorate their small home inside the tree trunk.
She brushed aside the warm feeling in her chest. What fools. Wasting time making figurines for each other when they could’ve been honing their fighting skills. Or, back at Lodestar relaying to the Elders the intel gained from their time in the Living World.
Wiglaf sauntered close to Paley’s legs, she scooped him up and placed him on her lap.
“You all must be hungry,” Daisy said.
She gave Kopius a nod, and he passed around a wooden snack bowl filled with dried gold mushrooms, nuts, and apple-date jerky along with a wineskin filled with a sweet amber liquid.
Van wanted to ask a million questions, but etiquette dictated she participate in their casual talk.
Brux and Daisy caught up on family matters. He informed his sister that he had been named as Van’s assigned protector. This position required him, their father, and now her, to live on Providence Island.
“Ah.” Daisy smiled at Van. “I knew if I didn’t carry the Anchoress bloodline, it would be you.”
Then, the conversation turned to Kopius.
“Tell us how you freed Daisy,” Pernilla said.
“I spent most of the time trying to find her location. That was the hardest part,” Kopius said. “I focused on Balefire in Aduro, but it turned out Merloc had her at Windermere Castle in East Alga. Took me another three months to infiltrate that place. Observed the goings-on, studied the patterns of traffic. I ended up sneaking in dressed as a servant. Bribed a few guards to get into the dungeon. Picked the lock.”
“He rescued me.” Daisy dreamily grinned at him.
Brux scowled.
“Didn’t even get to kill any anyone.” Kopius shrugged. “It was easy. Too easy.”
“No matter.” Brux placed his hand on Daisy’s knee in a gesture Van thought was designed to get his sister’s attention away from Kopius and back on him. “I’m glad she’s here now. Safe.”
“That’s a lot to take on for someone so young.” Paley tucked her chin under her shoulder and made googly eyes at Kopius, while still patting Wiglaf.
“That was my first mission, but I’m all about mercenary-style hires now.” Kopius shoved apple-date jerky in his mouth. “Loved it.” He chewed with his mouth open.
“How did Professor Lake find you—a teen mercenary—to hire?” Pernilla asked.
“I met him at Lode-con,” Kopius said.
Van and the others stared blankly.
“The Lodian Consilium. I’m placed on track to become a Grigori. In Salus Valde we don’t have to hide it like you do on Providence Island. We do internships with the Grigori at Lodestar. Get to mingle with the top officials, senators and the like. Ran into him one day after a chamber meeting. He’s a teacher, I’m a student. We got to talking.”
“So that’s why I’ve never met you before.” Paley stopped petting Wiglaf for a moment so she could flip her hair over her shoulder.
Kopius didn’t seem entranced with Paley’s flirting and continued speaking to the whole group. “I’ve spent time in the Earth World.” He shrugged as if were nothing big. “I’ve been to Providence Island. It’s part of our internship, our training.”
“Why weren’t you placed on our team?” Pernilla asked.
Van swore she caught a sparkle in Pernilla’s eye and wondered if a come-hither look would surface next.
“His skills probably weren’t complementary to our team,” Brux said.
More like not complementary to him. He and Kopius on the same team would spell disaster. Uxa would have known this and prevented it.
Daisy turned her enchanting gaze to Kopius. “He’s also been trained as a protector.”
Kopius caught her eye and—blushed?
He turned away and shoved another piece of jerky in his mouth, avoiding eye contact with everyone else.
Brux shifted as if trying to get comfortable sitting on the ground.
He knew as well as Van, if Kopius had protector training, then the Elders meant to use him to protect someone of value. That person had to be Daisy. No wonder Professor Lake approached him, it was no coincidence.
“I had a gut feeling I needed to train as a protector,” Kopius explained. “I didn’t know who I was supposed to protect. Didn’t know it was a real job or that the Anchoress was real, or that she even had an assigned protector. I was raised in a family that didn’t believe the old tales. I thought my intuition might be wrong.” He turned to Daisy again as if he couldn’t help it and smiled. “Turns out, I was right.”
“I thought only the Anchoresses had an assigned protector?” Van asked.
Paley rolled her eyes, which annoyed Van.
She wasn’t jealous of Daisy. Rules were rules. Van had been named the Anchoress, she had inherited the bloodline. This meant Van was special. Not weak, fragile Daisy.
“How long ago did you rescue her?” Brux asked.
If anyone was jealous, it was Brux. He seemed to be interrogating Kopius. He didn’t like the close relationship his sister had with this pompous, overly self-confident boy who looked more like a man.
Van wanted to tell Brux that he had nothing to worry about with Kopius. The guy had player written all over him. Despite Kopius’s heroic rescue of Daisy from the dungeons, Van couldn’t believe she was dumb enough to fall for his act. Paley, yes. Daisy, no. Thus proving once again: emotions led to a person’s downfall.
“A few months,” Daisy answered.
“Couple of weeks,” Kopius said at the same time.
“Which is it?” Brux jumped to his feet, angry. “What’s going on here?”
“Daisy’s still recovering from her experience.” Kopius put down his snack and visibly shifted to fighter mode, although he remained seated. “We were waiting for her to heal before we go back.”
“It’s protocol for you get back right away.” Pernilla seemed to not like him so much now that he had broken the rules.
Kopius frowned at Pernilla. “You Balish? You convert to Lodianism?”
“Why would you ask that?” Pernilla asked, taken aback.
Kopius shrugged, looking a bit more relaxed now that Brux had sat back down rather than pounce on him. “You’ve got that tanned-looking skin. Looks kinda like a Balish skin tone. Your eyes, though. I can’t figure out your eyes. Icy, light-blue like Lodians.”
Pernilla proudly puffed her chest. “I’m a descendant of the Native Americans in the Earth World. I got the call last year.”
“Mixed race. Fascinating.” Kopius peered at her. “I assume Uxa figured your bronzed skin would be an advantage in the Living World. People will think you’re Balish—except for the eyes.”
“I earned my spot based on my skills.” Pernilla slapped her thigh for emphasis.
“Too bad you can’t make them brown,” Kopius continued to squint at Pernilla. “You’d have it made here.”
Paley perked up. “I have brown-colored contact lenses. I can give you a pair.”
As Paley shifted to get her contacts from her backpack, Wiglaf jumped from her lap and meandered over to Daisy. He rubbed against her ankles.
Daisy smiled, scooped him up, and placed him on her lap.
Pernilla appeared so perplexed by Kopius and so out of her element she mindlessly accepted Paley’s lenses.
“I think we should spend the night here,” Brux said. “With Daisy. Before we move on.”
“We can’t.” Van began to stress. “We only have twenty-nine days left of the Alignment.” The wolf-like beast that hunted Van hunted her alone, not any of them. She took it as her personal imperative to keep the team moving before time ran out. “It’s too early in the journey to lose a day.”
Paley raised her hand and chimed in. “I vote we stay with Kopius and Daisy.”
Van glared at Paley. “You’re basing your decision on emotion. We can’t do that an
d succeed.”
Pernilla rested her knuckle against her chin, deep in thought, and then said, “Maybe we can leave Brux here. He can catch up later.”
“I’m fine with that,” Van said, fantasizing about leaving all of them, and their emotional baggage, behind.
“It’s my duty to stay with Van,” Brux said. “So we’re not splitting up.”
“What about the Twin Gemstones?” Paley said, alarmed. “I have to stay with Brux.”
“Oh, right,” Pernilla said.
“That too.” Brux smiled at Paley. “I haven’t forgotten.” He turned to the group. “As team leader, I think it’s best we take a vote. Stay or go. I’ll do what the group decides.”
Van cast her eyes down, unimpressed with Brux’s leadership. He wasn’t fit for the role. He was too soft.
“We stay the night. Hands up.” Brux raised his hand along with Paley.
“We leave now.”
Pernilla and Van’s hands shot into the air. They stared at each other, both astounded to be in agreement for the first time in their lives.
The team faced a tie.
No wonder Uxa made five-member teams. Her son would have been the tie-breaker. Too bad he wasn’t there. Being a well-trained warrior, he would have voted in favor of Van’s idea.
Daisy continued to stroke Wiglaf as she watched the interaction.
The bunfy lay in bliss curled on her lap. His long ears flopped down over the side of her leg.
“No need for a vote,” Daisy’s soft voice rang through her cozy home in the tree.
All their heads turned in her direction. People always seemed surprised when Daisy spoke as if someone so delicate and serene couldn’t make that much sound.
Daisy stared, looking at no one in particular. She threw back her shoulders to enforce her words. “I’m going with you.”
“What?” Brux cried.
“No.” Kopius leaped to his feet.
Their outburst shook Daisy and startled Wiglaf enough that he popped back to his magical animal realm.
Plague of Death Page 13
